Marathon runner takes a fall, rolls across the finish line

Sept. 19 (UPI) -- A runner in a Washington state marathon is being praised for her determination after barrel rolling across the finish line moments after taking a bad fall.

Philip King, a spectator at the Tunnel Vision marathon in North Bend, posted a video to Facebook showing runner Devon Bieling barrel rolling across the finish line.

King said the runner had taken a bad fall about 12 yards short of the finish line and found she was unable to return to her feet. He said she tried to crawl, but ended up rolling when the sharp terrain hurt her knees.

"She finished the whole 26.2 [miles] unassisted, even though she had to roll across the finish line," King wrote.

Bieling wrote in a Facebook post that she was initially embarrassed to find out her unusual finish had been captured on video, but she was heartened by all of the supportive comments from admirers who praised her determination.

"I've been so hard on myself and then I read all the nice things people were saying and how they were inspired and it was making them believed in themselves while in PT or recovering or taking tests. I was embarrassed and humbled even more than I'd thought I'd ever be. I'm thankful God let me see that it isn't about my feelings, but how it's helping others as ridiculous as it seems to me," she wrote.

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